Assessing Your Sleep Problems: What Is Normal?
When you're struggling with your sleep problems it can feel as if you're all on your own - especially in the middle of the night, when you're lying awake with no one to talk to.
It can be helpful to know how the rest of the population are doing in relation to the same sleep problems.
A number of studies across Europe (including England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and a few other countries) found the following results from research involving over 30,000 people across a broad range of age groups: (Note, that these are averages of the countries surveyed) The first sleep problem is known in research circles as 'Difficulty Initiating Sleep' or DIS.
Simply, this means having difficulty falling asleep in the first place, usually taking longer than about 15 minutes or so.
On average, about one in ten people reported this sleep problem.
Next was 'Difficulty Maintaining Sleep' or DMS.
This refers to waking frequently after initially falling asleep.
Over one in five people reported this sleep problem.
Then, researchers asked about 'waking up too early'.
An average of one in 11 people reported having this problem in relation to sleep.
'Non-restorative Sleep' or NRS, which refers to the feeling that you don't feel refreshed when you wake up in the morning, affected one in ten people as well.
Complaints about the overall quality or quantity of sleep came from about one in ten people surveyed, with France leading the surveys with double that number.
Anecdotally, it seems that sleep problems, not feeling we have had enough sleep, may regularly be affecting anywhere from 20-40% of the population.
No wonder we have so many warnings to remind us not to drive when we are drowsy.
It is a massive problem and many road accidents (and industrial accidents) have been linked to inadequate sleep.
So how do we cope? It seems on average that we wake up in the morning between about 6:30 and 7:30 am, and go to sleep between 10:30 and 11:45 pm.
This gives us an average sleep time of about 7 hours and 10 minutes per day.
It is interesting to note that, of the countries surveyed, people slept about an hour per day longer on weekends than during the week.
Which means we're more likely to be a little sleep-deprived during the week, and then compensate on weekends by sleeping in.
So, if you're wondering why everyone at work is cheerful on Mondays, but gets progressively grumpier towards the end of the week, and is glad when they've made it to 'Thank God It's Friday' this might be your answer.
In the meantime, hang in there, and keep reading my blog for more information on how to get better sleep.
You're definitely not on your own if you're having difficulties with any of the phases of sleep.
Hopefully this article has helped you to start assessing your sleep problems in comparison to other people's experiences, and to notice some of the distinctions that researchers make when assessing sleep problems.
It can be helpful to know how the rest of the population are doing in relation to the same sleep problems.
A number of studies across Europe (including England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and a few other countries) found the following results from research involving over 30,000 people across a broad range of age groups: (Note, that these are averages of the countries surveyed) The first sleep problem is known in research circles as 'Difficulty Initiating Sleep' or DIS.
Simply, this means having difficulty falling asleep in the first place, usually taking longer than about 15 minutes or so.
On average, about one in ten people reported this sleep problem.
Next was 'Difficulty Maintaining Sleep' or DMS.
This refers to waking frequently after initially falling asleep.
Over one in five people reported this sleep problem.
Then, researchers asked about 'waking up too early'.
An average of one in 11 people reported having this problem in relation to sleep.
'Non-restorative Sleep' or NRS, which refers to the feeling that you don't feel refreshed when you wake up in the morning, affected one in ten people as well.
Complaints about the overall quality or quantity of sleep came from about one in ten people surveyed, with France leading the surveys with double that number.
Anecdotally, it seems that sleep problems, not feeling we have had enough sleep, may regularly be affecting anywhere from 20-40% of the population.
No wonder we have so many warnings to remind us not to drive when we are drowsy.
It is a massive problem and many road accidents (and industrial accidents) have been linked to inadequate sleep.
So how do we cope? It seems on average that we wake up in the morning between about 6:30 and 7:30 am, and go to sleep between 10:30 and 11:45 pm.
This gives us an average sleep time of about 7 hours and 10 minutes per day.
It is interesting to note that, of the countries surveyed, people slept about an hour per day longer on weekends than during the week.
Which means we're more likely to be a little sleep-deprived during the week, and then compensate on weekends by sleeping in.
So, if you're wondering why everyone at work is cheerful on Mondays, but gets progressively grumpier towards the end of the week, and is glad when they've made it to 'Thank God It's Friday' this might be your answer.
In the meantime, hang in there, and keep reading my blog for more information on how to get better sleep.
You're definitely not on your own if you're having difficulties with any of the phases of sleep.
Hopefully this article has helped you to start assessing your sleep problems in comparison to other people's experiences, and to notice some of the distinctions that researchers make when assessing sleep problems.
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